Good advice. I have been on the player side of that exchange too often, where I come up with something different and get politely herded back into the meat chopper.
From the library, I took out “A Distant Mirror” and “A Time Travelers Guide to Medieval England”. I may also read “Richard II” in my complete Shakespeare. All to give me a feel of the time period.
Tell me what you think of “A Distant Mirror”. I’ve been meaning to pick it up.
You can really mess with the players heads in a scenario like this if you plant an NPC who seems to be on their side but isn’t. Say someone who helps them escape because the bad guys want them to escape – it gets them into more trouble and keeps the heat off the real perpetrators. Having thus established this NPC as a friend their continued manipulations will help keep the players on the right track and their eventual unmasking should be a moment of high drama. To keep the deception going plant clues that while their is a traitor it’s someoen else. Props for having the players turn on a genuine friend in the process.
And if you’re even more evil, you beforehand secretly talk one of the Players into being the double agent. It takes the right group, who would understand the difference between a character’s actions and a player’s actions, so woul appreciate the role-playing and story, rather than being pissed at the player. Depending on the plot, it would probably also need a player for the double-agent who doesn’t mind having the character they’ve been playing messily revenged-upon at some point.
@Septima: I will let you know what I think of “A Distant Mirror”. I am hoping that having a good feel for the reality of the day will help me set the scene. (Which is less critical in a high fantasy story). I also have been thinking more about your previous advice. It will be important for me to keep an open mind on ways for the characters to deal with situations. I don’t intend to corner them, but they may not see the options that I prepared.
@Springtime and Quercus: I will probably hold off on a double-agent player until my GM skills improve. But having NPCs with complex motivations is essential to the feel of the story I want to tell. The players will get help escaping the Tower and finding the killer from some patrons, because doing so will embarrass rivals and make the patron look good. It should be obvious to the players that the support is easily withdrawn. Once the character’s solve the murder and gain some prestige of their own, there will be a large number of potential allies for the characters. Some genuine, some nefarious and some that start genuine but get swayed by outside sources. I can’t wait.